HMCS Ypres

The RCN's Battle-class trawlers formed part of the Canadian naval response to Admiralty warnings to Canada about the growing German U-boat threat to merchant shipping in the western Atlantic.Tucker, p. 253 Intended to augment anti-submarine patrols off Canada's east coast, these ships were modelled on contemporary British North Sea trawlers, since the standard types of Canadian fishing vessels were considered unsuitable for patrol work.Tucker, pp. 254, 257

Twelve vessels were ordered on 2 February 1917 from two shipyards, Polson Iron Works of Toronto and Canadian Vickers of Montreal.Johnston et al., p. 417 Those vessels built at Polson Iron Works displaced {{convert|320|LT|t|lk=in}} and were {{convert|130|ft|m}} long overall with a beam of {{convert|23|ft|5|in|m}} and a draught of {{convert|13|ft|5|in|m}}.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 27 They were propelled by a steam-powered triple expansion engine driving one shaft creating {{convert|480|ihp|lk=in}} giving the vessels a maximum speed of {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}.Maginley and Collin, p. 67

All twelve trawlers were equipped with a QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun mounted forward.{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} This was considered to be the smallest gun that stood a chance of putting a surfaced U-boat out of action, and they also carried a small number of depth charges.Tucker, p. 257 The trawlers were named after battles of the Western Front during the First World War that Canadians had been involved in. They cost between $155,000 and $160,000 per vessel.{{efn|name=inflation}}{{efn|name=cost}}

Ypres was constructed by Polson Iron Works at Toronto and was launched on 16 June 1917.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 31 Intended for use during the 1917 shipping season, the construction of the vessels was delayed by the entry of the United States into the war. With higher wages found south of the border, a shortage of skilled labour developed in the shipyards, coupled with a shortage of construction material.Johnston et al., pp. 481–484 The trawler was commissioned on 13 November 1917. Ypres sailed to Halifax following her commissioning for defence of the Atlantic coast of Canada.Johnston et al., p. 484 For the defence of shipping in Canadian waters in 1918, the entire Battle class was assigned to work out of Sydney, Nova Scotia.Johnston et al., p. 543

The ship remained in Canadian service following the end of the war until being paid off in 1920. After being recommissioned on 1 May 1923 as a training ship on the east coast, having been re-designated a minesweeper in 1922.Johnston et al., pp. 800–801, 891 With sister ship {{HMCS|Festubert||2}}, Ypres trained with the destroyers on the east coast until November 1932 she was again paid off and was placed in reserve.Johnston et al., pp. 848, 940 Refitted as a gate vessel in 1938 and recommissioned, Ypres, designated Gate Vessel 1, formed part of the Halifax boom defences until 12 May 1940, when she was rammed and sunk by the British battleship Revenge.

File:HMS Revenge WWII IWM CH 823.jpg

The battleship was departing to escort two troop transports sailing for the United Kingdom when a request was made for the boom to be opened for her at 1830. Revenge began making her way towards the gate, which opened at 1826. However, before arriving at the gate, the battleship stopped inside the harbour, closer to the gate. The two troop transports had not joined up with the battleship on time and the officer in charge of gate operations did not inform the gate vessels of the change in departure time. When the ships finally did sail, the gate vessels had little time to get the gate open fully. Gate Vessel 1 reported the gate being open at 2055 and at 2056, Revenge rammed the gate vessel, rolling the trawler almost onto her side and flooding Gate Vessel 1 through her upper deck openings. The trawler, attached to the boom, bounced off the side of the battleship, which dragged the trawler and boom for roughly {{convert|500|yd|m}} before the battleship came to a halt. Gate Vessel 1 was abandoned as the ship settled onto the boom and sank at roughly 2125.Darlington and Mckee, pp. 15–17 There was no loss of life in the collision, with Revenge collecting thirteen members of the crew and Gate Vessel 2 (sister Festubert) collecting five more sailors, one of them a member of Revenge{{'}}s crew who had jumped overboard to save a Canadian. Revenge and her convoy sailed once ascertaining that there had been no deaths. Another Battle-class trawler, {{HMCS|Arleux||2}}, assumed Ypres{{'}} position as Gate Vessel 1. After this incident, the crews of other gate vessels would pretend to make elaborate preparations for a collision every time Revenge visited Halifax.{{cite web |url=https://novascotia.ca/museum/wrecks/wrecks/shipwrecks.asp?ID=4919 |title=On the Rocks: Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia – HMCS Ypres, 1940 |publisher=Maritime Museum of the Atlantic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217140055/https://novascotia.ca/museum/wrecks/wrecks/shipwrecks.asp?ID=4919 |archive-date=17 February 2018 |access-date=17 February 2018}}

{{notes

| notes =

{{efn

| name = cost

| Tucker places the cost at $191,000 (adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|191000|1918}}}})

}}

{{efn

| name = inflation

| Adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|155,000|1918}}}} to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|160,000|1918}}}}

}}

{{efn

| name = gun nomenclature

| "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

}}

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Darlington |first=Robert A. |last2=McKee |first2=Fraser |name-list-style=amp |date=1996 |title=The Canadian Naval Chronicle 1939–1945: The Successes and Losses of the Canadian Navy in World War II |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-032-2}}
• {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=William |last2=Rawling |first2=William G.P. |last3=Gimblett |first3=Richard H. |last4=MacFarlane |first4=John |name-list-style=amp |date=2010 |title=The Seabound Coast: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1867–1939 |volume=1 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55488-908-2}}
• {{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |name-list-style=amp |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}
• {{cite book |last=Maginley |first=Charles D. |last2=Collin |first2=Bernard |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |title=The Ships of Canada's Marine Service |publisher=Vanwell Publishing Limited |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-070-5}}
• {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Gilbert Norman |date=1962 |title=The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History – Volume 1: Origins and Early Years |publisher=King's Printer |location=Ottawa |oclc=840569671}}

• [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/battle/ Battle-class trawlers]

{{Battle-class trawler}}

{{May 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ypres}}

Category:Battle-class trawlers

Category:World War I naval ships of Canada

Category:Maritime incidents in May 1940

Category:Ships sunk in collisions

Category:Shipwrecks of Canada

Category:1917 ships

Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy

Category:Ships built in Toronto